Something Missing
by Miss Raye
Summary: If you're not careful with the important things in life... sometimes you lose them.
1. Chapter 1

Part One

Anthony Zacchara had often wondered if he had feline DNA in his family… he'd had enough lives to warrant the question.

This was yet another example of his ability to come close to death and come back with a vengeance. Then again, as he knew Port Charles believed him dead, he had an opportunity. Locked away in his self-imposed exile, he had time to poke around in people's lives. What he'd found had been most instructive… most instructive indeed.

Searching through the cellulose mess covering the floor of his hotel room he found the paper he was looking for. Elizabeth Webber's birth certificate. He lifted the paper to his nose, breathing in the scent of copier toner. Again, he looked over the words printed out in black and white and smiled. The clerk had been most difficult to deal with, even when confronted with a wad of cash, it had taken some pretty straight-forward threats to get the man to find the 'original' records.

Pushing himself to his feet, Anthony stepped over his pile of paperwork and sat heavily on the edge of the bed as he reached out for the phone on the nightstand. He dialed out, giving a few choice words to the hotel desk clerk that reminded him about the surcharge for International calls, and then he waited for the man on the other end to pick up.

"Alonso? Yes, yes, I know what time it is… is it ready? Hmm… well, get it ready, we're going to have a guest."

Elizabeth Webber was wiped… whipped… pretty much anything that sounded like she'd be on the floor in a minute applied. She was dead on her feet and pretty much everyone knew it. They could see it in the way she moved, the dark circles under her eyes and no one seemed to be able to help.

Epiphany Jones fought the urge to toss the younger woman over her shoulder and take her home to feed her and tuck her in bed for a few uninterrupted hours of sleep. "You sure you won't bring the boys by for dinner at my place?"

The comment shocked Elizabeth, bringing her bolt-upright at the nurse's station. "No, no… really, but thanks." She gave her supervisor a warm smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "The boys are usually jazzed after daycare and just want to run around the house… I couldn't do that to you."

Epiphany shook her head. "Then let me come by some night and sit with them while you sleep."

Tears sprung onto Elizabeth's lashes as she suddenly understood the underlying offer. "Thanks, really… I just… I can't… I need to make this work… on my own two feet." She looked around the room, hoping no one was close enough to hear her. "I've been so overwhelmed lately," she confided, "with Lucky spending so much time with Sam and Grams ready to disown for the whole breakup, again, that I need to prove that I can do this… that my life isn't a total fu- er… mess up."

Epiphany nodded and touched her young friend on the shoulder. "You don't have to do it alone to prove you can raise those boys… there are friends that care about you a great deal and we'd be happy to help you."

Shoulders sagging from relief, Elizabeth bit into her lip to keep from crying outloud at the nurse's station. "Sure… sure… but not tonight."

Epiphany wanted to argue with the young woman. It had been the same answer over and over and it wasn't the last time if she knew Elizabeth Webber as well as she thought she did. "Fine, but why don't you leave a few minutes early and pick up your boys. I'll clock out for you."

Relief was a beautiful thing on Elizabeth's face and she gave Epiphany a sudden hug with her free arm. She set her charts down and moved toward the elevators.

Just as the doors started to close Epiphany caught site of Elizabeth's purse on a shelf under the counter. "Hey, you forgot-" she shook her head and sighed, "She'll come back for it."

Elizabeth had no sooner stepped out of the elevator when a volunteer she didn't recognize stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Excuse me, Nurse Webber?"

"Yes?"

The young woman motioned down the hallway in the opposite direction of day-care. "There's a call for you on the hospital phone."

With a longing look at the direction of Day-care Elizabeth was loathe to change her direction. "Look, I really want to get my boys and go home and-"

"He said to tell you his name was Jason and that he'd changed his mind."

"Jason," she repeated the name before she could stop herself. Changed his mind? About… about what? She wanted to demand an answer from the girl, but she had already turned around and headed down the hallway. Changed his mind… she didn't want to hope, but hope she did. She was so busy worrying over the message that it took her a few moments to realize that this hallway was a maintenance hallway… there were no courtesy phones there.

Before she could stop and turn around the world went black.

Jason looked up from his desk at the warehouse and shook himself. He was more than half-asleep and bored out of his mind. The barista in the coffee shop was about to close up shop when a delivery van pulled up outside. Jason was on his feet.

There was something odd.

No deliveries were expected.

Nothing they'd ordered.

Matt, the barista, moved around the counter and opened the door for the delivery man and his handcart. Jason stood in the doorway watching the action, his hand at his side, but the back of his jacket was pulled up over the grip of his handgun where it rested in the waistband of his pants.

"Go ahead and sign there, please."

Matt signed for the driver and watched the man leave as quickly as he'd come. "Whoa… that's a lot of packages, late delivery too." The young man looked up and saw the curious look on Jason's face. "Is there something wrong?"

Jason stepped up and looked at the packages, there were nearly a score of packages, all the same size. The package on the top had an envelope taped to it. "No address anywhere… no postage… or stamps."

Nodding, Matt reached around to workspace of his counter and picked up a wand. It was pretty much procedure around the shop to wave the metal detector over anything and everything that came in the door as a delivery.

Watching the barista wand the whole stack of boxes with no change on the meter didn't do anything to settle the odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. Stepping closer, he pulled the envelope free of the packaging and opened it up.

He read the message once, twice and then a third time even though the words on it were few and the hand easily legible. He read it hoping that the words would change before his eyes. When they didn't, Jason called over to Matt. "Call Sonny, we need a crew to secure the packages."

"Secure?" Matt's eyes widened a bit and he reached for the phone to make the hurried call.

Jason stayed where he was, reading the words one more time before allowing the fear to crawl completely over his skin.

SOMETHING MISSING? – A.Z.


	2. Chapter 2

Part Two

Anthony Zacchara looked out the window of the passenger plane tapping his fingers on his knees. The old woman next to him tsk'ed loudly and turned pointedly away. Anthony grinned at his reflection in the mirror, watching the whites of his teeth glare with the light from the cabin behind him. He looked down at his watch, still set on Port Charles time and wondered if the delivery service had made its second delivery on time.

Johnny Zacchara stared at the man wearing the "ONE STOP" Delivery Uniform and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you the first time, what is this?"

With a long drawn out sigh the man read aloud from his clipboard… again. "It's a delivery for 'Johnny Zacchara, my worthless son.'"

Anger clenched up inside of him. Even from the grave his father was taunting him. He stepped back and let the man wheel the handcart into his house. The butler stepped up awaiting orders and Johnny waved at the stack of packages. "Just put it in storage or somewhere… I really don't care."

He turned away and walked back into his office, determined to find something to distract him from the ghost of his father.

The crew, similar to a hazmat group had arrived at the office and examined the packages. It was part of doing business in the modern era. With all the chemical weapons out there, it was stupid to assume the mob was immune from the methods of terrorists. It was much the same between the families people would always try to take out their rivals. For now, Corinthos Morgan was still doing things the 'old fashioned' way… not that it was anymore 'civilized' but it was expected.

Stan exited the van and gave Sonny a nod. "They're clean." Looking over at Jason he gave him a strange look. "You play chess?"

Jason shook his head. "No. Maybe back before the accident. What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Stan ducked back into the van and removed a package. The xray on this one says it's a chess set."

Jason took the package from his hand and took it back into the office away from the prying eyes of people passing by. He set the package down and took out his pocket knife, making quick work of the paper wrapping. He spread the paper aside and lifted the lid from the box. Inside the box were chess pieces… almost a set.

The White Queen was missing. Jason picked up the White King and watched as the head fell back into the box. Beneath the king was a piece of paper. He took it into his hand and opened it.

WHERE IS THE QUEEN? DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD. A.Z.

Sonny snatched the paper away and read it. "I thought he was dead."

"So did I." Jason's voice scratched the inside of his throat. "I shot him. Twice."

Flicking open his phone Sonny gave Jason a scathing look. "Well, it looks like you messed up again, Jason." He hit a button and held the phone to his ear. "Where's Carly?" He listened to the voice on the other end, nodding quickly. "Get her home, now… extra guards… there's someone threatening her."

Jason picked up the king and looked at its headless body. There was something off about this. Something very very off.

The air was soft, warm. Elizabeth lifted her nose in the air and smelled fresh bread. It was a dream. It had to be a dream because just beyond the bread she smelled jasmine. One more deep breath and Elizabeth began to open her eyes… and slowly realized she couldn't.

She tried to touch her face, but found that her arms were heavy and unresponsive. She struggled as though she was drowning and trying to reach the surface of the water, but no matter how much she tried she remained still and immobile. Beyond the abject fear she felt she was vaguely aware of the sound of monitors, something like they had at GH. She heard the escalating beep beep of a heartrate monitor and hoped beyond hope that it was all just a trick of her mind and she was back home.

A door opened behind her head and a few people entered, their feet heavy on the floor, the sound echoing on the walls.

A hand, rough in touch and feel, brushed back her hair and a light was shone into each eye in turn. "Well," came in the insistent voice, "she'll come out of it?"

"Are you sure you gave her the prescribed dose?"

"I know what I did. Don't you question me!" The voice wasn't just angry, there was a twist of ice in the tone that shivered through Elizabeth's still form. "She'll be up and around soon enough, hmm?"

Some sort of muffled affirmation won a gruff laugh from the man near her head. "You can go until I'm done talking to Elizabeth."

Hope leapt in her heart. Whoever was in the room knew her… or at least her name.

A chair scraped across the floor and came to rest beside her bed. The same hand that had nearly scratched the skin of her forehead took her hand in his. "You're finally where you should be Elizabeth. You're with family."


	3. Chapter 3

Part Three

Carly had always loved the Penthouse at the Towers. She'd loved showing it off to anyone who would come by and drag people up by invitation as much as could. Still, she hated it just as much when she was stuck there.

"Is this all really necessary?" She demanded of Sonny while he was on the phone. "I thought Anthony Zacchara was dead!"

Sonny turned away and held up a finger for her to wait.

"Why can't you just send us down to the island?" She plucked at his sleeve, following around as he turned. "The boys could use a vacation," she pushed, "Good Lord knows 'I' could use a vacation."

Sonny covered the mouthpiece of the phone and hissed back at her. "We don't know what's going on right now, we have everyone locked down until we know more." With a final look he turned back to the phone. Carly flopped down on the sofa and tossed one of Morgan's toys across the room. "Where's Jason, anyway?" She looked up at Sonny, but he was ignoring her.

Digging into her bag she fished out her cell and called Jason. The answering system picked up on the third ring. Bringing the cell phone down where she could see the screen she glared at the offending device.

She stopped the call and redialed. This time it went straight to messages. Carly threw the phone across the room and watched with a satisfied glare as it broke into three pieces.

Sonny turned around with a concerned look and shook his head. "No… we're not being attacked, it was just Carly… being Carly."

Elizabeth took one breath after another, each bigger than the last, willing feeling all the way down to her fingers and toes. It was a long and painful process with only the constant beep beep beep to keep her company. It was maddening as her frustration rose so did her heart-rate and when the beeping increased she began to panic.

There were people that came in and out of the room from time to time but no one said anything to her. They would look at the machine, a shadow falling between her and the direction where the sound was coming from, and then they'd walk out of the room.

Elizabeth managed to part her lips and flicked her tongue out to wet her lips. It was a small triumph but something nonetheless. It was something that said whatever it was that they gave her was wearing off.

Epiphany, Robin and Patrick sat in the park and watched the boys playing in the sun each adult with their own concerned expressions on their faces… Cameron and Jake were running around and playing with the other children, but they would each stop from time to time and look over at the three adults that had brought them to the park.

It was unnerving really, the look in their eyes. The watchful looks that said they weren't buying the happy smiles and placid reassurances one bit.

"Have you heard anything?" Patrick sat down on the table top and looked from Robin to Epiphany. "Anything?"

Robin shook her head. "Uncle Mac can't do anything officially, it hasn't been 24 hours yet. Audrey is in denial, she's sure that Elizabeth has run off to take a little vacation on her own. Lucky's actually on a vacation with Sam."

Epiphany shuddered at the thought. "Don't get me started on that."

Patrick pressed a hand against his forehead. "Is he coming back?" He looked from one woman to the other and nearly jumped off the table in a sudden rage. "Okay, I get that he doesn't consider Cameron his, but come on… Jake? Isn't he the baby he and Liz have wanted forever?"

He expected the women to jump in and agree with him, demand that Lucky be dragged back by the short hairs, but they sat there looking at him. Epiphany with an arched brow and Robin with a sad little smile.

She took Patrick's hand in her own and tugged him back down to the seat beside her. "Honey, there's something you need to know about Jake Webber."

Jason was about to strangle someone… anyone… the next damn person that walked by.

So far they'd corralled Alexis and her girls, Carly and the children, Kate who insisted on being supplied with a dedicated wireless router to keep the magazine going. They'd stashed them at the most secure safe houses that they had and the guards were on double duty both on protection detail and scouring the city for Anthony Zacchara.

Spinelli mercifully had realized the state of Jason's sanity and had managed to keep his normal buoyant personality quiet. He looked up from his computer with a wince. "I can't find anything about the presumed dead Zacchara head, since the Black and White Ball where he threatened the life of you and that Maternal One he's been most assuredly 'dead' as far as activity goes."

Jason was listening to Spinelli as he dialed Sonny's number again and finally got through. He answered Sonny's question before it was asked. "Everyone's accounted for."

Sonny sighed and Jason could almost hear him flinch as something broke apart on his side of the conversation. "That's Carly. Thanks for the update."

Jason shook his head. There was something he was missing, but he just couldn't quite get it.

Sonny grumbled on the other end. "I can't think of anyone else that he'd think…"

Spinelli sighed and crunched on another chip. "Seriously, Stone Cold, since the night you shot him-"

Sonny barked out a colorful epithet. "Carly, enough!"

"Besides his attentions to the Maternal One, I don't see-"

"Sonny, I have to go." Jason snapped his phone closed and turned around to Spinelli. "Elizabeth."

The door closed opened and closed again as Elizabeth struggled to breathe deep and slow. if her heart rate increased now, he'd know she was awake and she needed to know more before she tried to escape.

The side of the bed lowered as though someone sat down beside her. "You look like her, you know… you have her coloring… just like my boy Johnny. I don't know why I didn't see it before… but then they say that a man can be blind to what's right in front of him." A hand, cold and hard, touched the side of her face. "But now I see you, Elizabeth… I see you and I know exactly what to do with you."

Fear surged through her body and her heart pounded in her chest, the electronic beeping of the machine revealing her ruse.

Laughter, or rather a cackle, filled the room and he called out to someone in the hallway.

"Playing possum, eh? I can respect that, Elizabeth, but it's not nice to fool me." She knew who it was and her mind had been wondering, fretting, searching for reasons since she'd made the revelation that she was in the hands of Anthony Zacchara. He leaned down, his stubble-covered chin brushed against her cheek as his hand closed on her arm. "It's not nice to fool Papa."


	4. Chapter 4

Part Four

Jason pulled the SUV up the front of Elizabeth's house and slid down from the driver's seat in a breath. Down the street in both directions other cars had stopped, blocking traffic from both directions and he trusted that his other men were now making their way into Elizabeth's backyard.

Walking down the path he knew he had a lot of explaining to do and a lot of questions to ask. He knocked on the door and leaned to the side look in the window, one hand hovering just above the grip of his gun where it was jammed in the back of his waistband. The floor had toys scattered around, somewhat normal for this time of night, the boys weren't in bed yet. Another knock was quickly answered with a sharp bark of sound.

"I said I'm coming!" Striding down the hallway was nurse Epiphany Johnson. She looked up and caught his startled gaze with a narrowed look of her own. She mounted the stairs and swung the door open after a solid click to open the lock. "What the hell took you so long?"

* * *

Sonny opened the door to the penthouse and pointed up to his old office. "Take the packages upstairs, Max. I'm going to go through them myself."

Max paused in the doorway, his gaze a little nervous. "Jason told me he was-"

Pinching at the bridge of his nose, Sonny sighed out his frustration. "Just who is in charge here, Max?"

"You are, Mr. Corinthos, sir."

"Then take those things upstairs!"

Max slid past the smaller man with Milo following tight on his heels, their arms full of packages. Sonny reached into one pocket after another searching for his pills. He fought his growing frustration and gave up on the search.

Carly perked up at the sight of the boxes parading by. "Did you bring something for me, Sonny?"

Without a word for her he followed the two brothers upstairs and left her seething in the living room as she glared at the guard on the door.

* * *

Jason looked past Epiphany down the hall. "Is Elizabeth here?"

Two fists landed on their respective hips. "Is she here? Is she here?" When Jason didn't answer she lifted one hand and poked him in the abs. "Don't you have someone watching her?"

Shaking his head, he started to open his mouth but she stopped him cold.

"She left the nurse's station to get the boys from day care last night and never got there… and before you try to give me some lame story about how she probably just got distracted and drove off for a weekend alone like Audrey and Lucky seem to believe, she left her purse, her keys, her phone." Some of the anger and ire drained away as Jason reached out a hand and leaned heavily on the post just inside of Elizabeth's door. "We know something's wrong, Jason."

His head snapped up. "We?"

Epiphany nodded. "Robin and Patrick have been helping me with the boys."

"So the boys are safe?" Some of the fear dampened but the gnawing desperation in his middle grew with each passing moment. "Can I… Can I see them?"

She held her hand out toward the hallway and Jason walked toward the kitchen. He didn't make it one step inside before he saw a friendly face. "Jason!" Cameron slid out of his seat and ran around the table to give Jason a hug.

"Hey, Cam," he noticed that the boy's head was almost to his belt, "you've grown!"

"Jason… up! Up!" From his toddler seat at the table, Jake held out both of his hands toward the tall man in the room. "Up!"

With a small gasp of air Jason drew Cam along with him until he could pick Jake out of his seat and hug him to his chest, the sticky mess of the boy's dinner sliding onto his jacket as the child clung to him. "Hey, Jake… how are you?"

Jake gave a beleaguered sigh and hugged Jason closer. "Lonely…" the boy huffed, "Mommy's gone."

"Not for long, buddy," Jason pressed a kiss to Jake's head and squeezed Cam's shoulder. "Not for long."

The boys settled down with that simple reassurance and went back to dinner. Epiphany followed him out to the door, her voice low even though the boys couldn't possibly hear them.

"I have guards outside, no one is going to get to them." He saw Epiphany's worried look. "I don't have time to explain."

"Just go," she looked at him with trust in her eyes, "we'll keep them occupied until you bring Elizabeth home."

A moment later Jason was on his way back to the penthouse, he needed help.

* * *

Elizabeth looked down at the loose gown she was wearing. It had been the only thing available to her when she finished her shower. The baleful eye of the woman left to watch her had discouraged any kind of conversation. As far as Elizabeth knew the woman didn't speak a lick of English. She'd tried to ask her a few questions and only received a stoic look in return.

When she had the robe secured at her waist with the belt she followed the woman down the hallways and to a formal dining room. There was little furniture to speak of, a long heavy wooden table with a half a dozen chairs spread around it. Candle topped candelabras at three points with wilting flower arrangements between them.

Anthony Zacchara noticed her look at the blooms. "If you hadn't played possum for me they'd be fresh so don't you go blaming anything on me." He indicated the seat beside himself and she slowly lowered herself into it, sitting as far away from him as the chair allowed. "I have someone buying clothes for you, but like so many other people in my life they're a disappointment and so you'll have to wait until they finally get here. "

A servant brought a decanter and filled a glass with a dark red wine. She eyed the glass with caution as the man backed away.

"This all very… very nice, Mr. Zacchara, but I-"

"Elizabeth," he sighed, setting his own glass down, "I had hoped we could just enjoy a meal together, but I guess that was too much to hope for."

"I just," Elizabeth gave him a smile, trying to fight down the panic she felt inside at this man's seemingly obvious unbalance, "I just want to get home to my boys and-"

"A child's primary allegiance," Anthony intoned, his finger held aloft in instruction, "is to her father. Something you should keep in mind, Elizabeth. It will help us get along in the long run."

"Father?"

Anthony used his free hand to give her a pat on the shoulder. "Just let me explain."

Her hand shook as she raised her own glass to her lips. "Please."

* * *

When Jason arrived back at the penthouse the guard at the door gave him a relieved smile. "Good, you're back."

Jason stopped short. "What happened?"

"He…" the man looked away searching for a word, "He 'changed his mind'."

Narrowing a look at the guard Jason insisted. "What do you mean?"

"He brought those packages from the office here," the guard continued on fast knowing that Jason would be upset, "he took them upstairs to look at them and then… then… ten minutes later he shouts down to the door that Carly and the boys are going home… that they're safe. Nothing to worry about."

"And did he give a reason?"

The guard looked away.

"Dammit." Jason shoved his key into the lock and stepped inside. What he saw stopped him short. The room was strewn with paper, bits of cardboard boxes and other things that had probably been in the boxes at one time. The fire in the fireplace was roaring even though the heat in the room was stifling.

Sonny looked up from his seat on the coat, his glass of scotch picking up the light like a jewel. "While you were gone, I figured it out, Jason."

"Figured what out, Sonny."

"Anthony Zacchara lost his edge. We stopped his plan to kidnap one of our own… and now his game… his game is worthless… so I," he gestured to the mess in the room, "got rid of it."


	5. Chapter 5

Part Five

Anthony Zacchara finished one sordid tale after another, the disappointment of his first daughter, the distance that had crept up between him and his son Johnny. "So here I was thinking all was lost. Claudia gone… Johnny turned on me… what did I have left?"

Elizabeth sat quietly in her chair, her fingers playing idly with her silverware, eating just enough to keep her mind from breaking into a thousand pieces.

"Well," Anthony continued on, "I have you."

"Me." She barely squeaked out the word.

He smiled, a bright cheerful grin that stopped her breath in her chest. "I kept asking myself after that night on Spoon Island… why I was so fixated on you." He looked her right in the eye. "Didn't you wonder the same thing?"

She didn't want to tell him that she tried to shut that part of the night out of her memories… that the rush of cold air on her ankles still gave her fits of anxiety. "Yes… I wondered about that."

"I couldn't get your face out of my mind… over and over I'd find myself thinking about you… and then one day…" he poured more wine for himself, "I opened my eyes and there was a picture of Johnny staring right at me. I closed my eyes… you. Opened them up… Johnny." He clapped his hands together. "By God, the two of you looked so alike, it had to be!"

"Looks," Elizabeth didn't know if she should argue with him or agree, she didn't want to upset him, "can be deceiving. How do you know that I… that we…"

"Don't trust my word, yet?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He dropped it on the table between them. "Take a look for yourself."

Elizabeth reached out and opened the paper, reading it over and over as her heart sank deeper into despair.

* * *

Jason struggled to maintain a control of his temper as he stared at the wanton destruction about the Penthouse. "Did you look at the packages? What was inside of them?"

Sonny waved his hand, dismissing the anger and the questions. "It doesn't matter."

"It does matter," Jason moved around to stand in front of Sonny, his fists at his side, his eyes blazing with frustration, "it's not about Carly or the others… it's about Elizabeth."

A laugh burst from Sonny's lips. "Elizabeth? She's not part of our life."

"This isn't about the life, Sonny, this is about Elizabeth." He pushed a hand through his hair, trying to focus. "The night of the Black and White Ball… after Emily was killed Anthony Zacchara took Elizabeth out onto the castle walls and nearly made her jump." Jason felt his heart thunder in his chest as though Sonny could hear it. "We almost jumped together." The memory which he had worked hard to hide was now fresh at the front of his mind and it was fresh enough that he could almost feel her hand in his. "He knows I love her."

Sonny's snort of laughter was cruel and cold. "So just because he made you play doomed lovers on some castle parapet you think he's going to kidnap Elizabeth?" Sonny leaned forward and folded his hands together. "He's a crackpot mobster, Jason. You and I we're the real thing. We're the ones who are going to end up on top and the winners. For you to play into his little 'high school musical' is amateur hour. Where is your head, Jason?"

Jason looked around the room, strewn with pieces of paper, plastic wrappers and other things he wondered the same thing about Sonny. "I think I've finally got my head where it should be." He stood, walking a circle around the room, his eyes picking up the images of some kind of cookie wrapper, probably from the kids and the remnants of chess pieces near the fire grate. It looked worse that Christmas Morning with the kids… it was destruction, wanton destruction. Jason came to a stop in front of his oldest friend. "Sonny," he waited for the man to look up at him before he continued, "I'm going after Elizabeth, so anything you can remember about what was in those packages it would really help me here."

Leaning back into the plush cushions of his chair, Sonny crossed one leg over the other and regarded the younger man standing before him. "It was nothing, Jason… a bunch of toys and… and… candy and it was just a joke a horrible, ridiculous joke to put us on alert over… nothing." Taking a moment to gauge Jason's reaction he concluded their meeting with, "if Elizabeth is having problems with Lucky… again… do you really want to get back into that tug of war? We've got a business to run." Sonny reached into his pocket and then another one. "Where are those pills?"

Jason felt every muscle in his jaw bunch until it was painful enough to send sparks up along his spine. "I'm going to find Elizabeth, Sonny. Take care of the rest of it by yourself."

He left the Penthouse surprised that he'd left Sonny breathing.

Once outside the door he took a long deep breath and wrapped his mind around the problem. The packages destroyed, Elizabeth in Anthony Zacchara's hands… the next step. He had called Spinelli and Stan and had both of them working on the problem with their own skills, but he would need to talk to someone who knew Anthony Zacchara.

Heading for the elevators he decided to take a trip to see Johnny.

* * *

Elizabeth set aside the paper and took another long sip of wine. The birth certificate said it plainly. Her mother was Maria Zacchara and really deep down it made sense… Sarah had told her so very many times when they were children that Elizabeth didn't look like the rest of them… all blonde and beautiful… so she had to be adopted. Elizabeth had cried over and over about the comments, but she had almost accepted it herself. With her mother and father away in foreign countries so often, no one would have remembered if the Webbers had a third pregnancy.

"Is… is my mother alive?"

Anthony lifted his own glass and stared into the dark liquid. "I really don't know. I didn't even know she was pregnant with you… I thought she'd died and-"

"But I don't understand," she interrupted him, her mind a whirl of confused thoughts, "how did she… I mean.. how did you think she was dead and not know that she was pregnant with me?"

"I'd shot her… really I'd intended to shoot Johnny but she got in the way, it was an accident really."

"You…" Elizabeth pressed her hand to her chest to keep her beating heart from exploding, "you shot her when you were trying to shoot Johnny?"

"True," he mused, "and so I thought she was dead, but then again… your Jason shot me twice and I'm still alive." He laughed as though he'd shared a great joke, thumping his fist on the table and nearly knocking over his wine glass. "She must have hidden away, her folks perhaps, and had you."

"So," Elizabeth struggled to maintain her calm, "now that we've had our reunion, I can go home to my boys."

Anthony's smile curled his lips like a feral cat. "No… No, my dear girl, you and I have some work to do first."

Elizabeth stood. "At least let me call them and tell them I'm alright."

"No!" Anthony's open palm hit the desk with a sound thwack that said it must hurt as loud as it sounded. "You'll do as I say, Elizabeth."

She wanted to challenge him, to stare him down and ask 'or what' but she knew by the expression on his face that he wasn't going to react well and right now, while she had no clue where she was she held onto her tongue.

Elizabeth sat down in her chair.

Satisfied that she was now listening to him he gave her another smile. "Tomorrow, we begin."

"Begin?" Elizabeth had almost been too afraid to ask.

"Your lessons."

* * *

Johnny answered the door himself with a twist of a smile in one corner of his mouth. "My butler seems to be a little afraid of you." He looked over his shoulder down the corridor. "He saw you coming from the window and went straight for the bathroom." He looked at Jason thoughtfully. "I don't see a gun in your hand, is this a social call?"

Giving the younger man a look he shook his head. "I need your help."

The simple sentence seemed to shock the younger Zacchara who could only step back away from the door and murmur. "This is going to be interesting."


	6. Chapter 6

Part Six

Johnny watched Jason pace back and forth for a minute or two before he took mercy on the enforcer. "Jason, sit down before you fall down and we'll get this sorted through."

He stopped at the edge of the couch and still couldn't make himself sit down. "Your father."

Johnny held up a hand. "Dead, yeah… no need to thank me, I was happy to help." Looking at the clock over the fireplace the younger man shook his head. "But you really have to work on those social skill, Jason. It's a little late for a visi-"

"He's not dead. And he has Elizabeth Webber."

Now it was Johnny's turn to look a little shell shocked. "He's alive?" He turned toward the hallway and then back again. "And he has Elizabeth Webber?" He saw the truth in Jason's eyes but he still couldn't quite grasp it. "Why?"

Jason held out a hand. "I'll tell you later, Johnny… the whole story, but for right now all you have to know is that your father is alive and he has her so I need to find him and get her back."

He saw the startling honesty in the man's words, heard the desperation in his voice and so for once Johnny didn't take the opportunity to mock the enforcer or even bargain with him. He just nodded. "I'm sure the story will be a good one, but I'll take your word at face value. How do we figure this out?"

A single nod from Jason. "Good. I have two of my men coming over, computer guys, research, no guns."

Johnny shrugged. "Your gun is more than enough in this case."

"Now, we need to get some idea where your father would be hiding out… somewhere he could hide Elizabeth too."

"Yeah, okay," Johnny picked up his phone and looked at Jason. "I'll start making some calls."

* * *

Elizabeth felt like she was an actress getting ready for a roll in a mob miniseries. Standing in the kitchen with the older woman that had become her shadow she at least had another woman for company. Gaetana had showed up before breakfast and woke Elizabeth up before dawn to get her dressed and in the kitchen. The young woman would be considered plain back home, but there was an earthy spirit that gave her a glow and her smile was bright and cheerful and Elizabeth needed it like the sun.

It was also very very clear to Elizabeth that Gaetana and her 'older companion' didn't speak English. Elizabeth was pretty darn sure they were Italian based on watching the whole trilogy of Godfather films and the words Gaetana had been hammering her with in the kitchen sounded like they worked in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant.

Italy. Elizabeth felt the simple truth of it weigh on her shoulders. She'd finally found herself in Italy and instead of a honeymoon, or even just a vacation, she was the prisoner of a madman. Yep, life sucked.

Gaetana tapped Elizabeth's hand and brought her attention back to the lesson at hand. Apparently, if she understood correctly she was being taught how to make meatballs. She looked at the trays to her left and groaned, she'd made four trays already and if the stack of empties to her right was any indication she was going to be making many many more.

* * *

Spinelli gave Johnny a cold look when the mobster tried to touch his router. "Touch and Die, Zacchara-spawn."

Johnny's look was just this side of hysterical laughter.

Jason wasn't quite so forgiving. "Spinelli, shut it."

Stan was already hard at work searching property records in the tri-state area. He looked back over his shoulder. " None of those aliases are showing up with any property records old or new."

Spinelli was only slightly behind him. "Not showing any plane or train tickets with Elizabeth's names anywhere."

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "If only Sonny hadn't been such an ass with-"

Clapping his hand down on Jason's shoulder, Johnny gave him a companionable sigh. "Hell, Jason, Sonny's just an ass all the time. It's about time you figured it out."

* * *

Elizabeth rubbed at one arm and then the other as she and Gaetana took a moment to relax, leaning against the counter. The soft smile on the young woman's face chilled as she looked past Elizabeth at the door. Straightening she looked away and down at her feet. Elizabeth felt the shift of energy and turned to face Anthony Zacchara.

He gave Gaetana a few choice words in Italian and the poor girl was almost quaking with fear.

"Please, Mr. Za-" Elizabeth swallowed the words when she saw the warning in his eyes, "Papa. Please, Gaetana's been working hard this morning."

Anthony narrowed his gaze at them and paced over to the stove, lifting up cover after cover, tasting the food within and alternately nodding and shaking his head. He finally took a long wooden spoon and dipped it into the last pot. He lifted it back out with a meatball in the bowl of the spoon. "Too big, Elizabeth, if you want to do it right you need to pay attention to detail."

She moved closer, her face a mixture of many confused emotions. "I really need to get back to my boys, M- Papa. Are we done with my lessons? If not we can finish them back in Port Charles."

"Oh," he assured her, "we're not going back to Port Charles anytime soon." He cut her off before she could speak. "There's something you need to learn Elizabeth. From now on everything you have it's because I allow you to have it."

"But my boys-"

"Children are a means to an end, Elizabeth."

"What… what do you mean?"

He leaned closer, his voice soft, but the chill that slipped through her body was real enough. "I mean that if I don't get what I want… then I don't see where you should get anything either. Keep that in mind."

He turned and left the room with a resounding click on the lock. Elizabeth saw the worry on Gaetana's face and tried to wave it off but the tears began to fall and then Elizabeth was in the arms of the young Italian woman pouring out all the heartache in a language the girl didn't understand.

* * *

Sonny paced alone in the Penthouse, kicking at the remnants of the boxes, waiting.

A knock at the door didn't soothe him at all. "Get in here!"

Max clicked the door open and stepped inside. "You feeling alright, boss?"

"Give me the information, Max."

"I think you should talk to Jason about this."

"Where is he, Max?" The guard hesitated. "Max!"

"Jason's at the Zacchara house with Johnny and he's got Stan and Spinelli with him too."

Sonny went deathly still for a moment before he turned toward Max. Sonny's eyes blazed with anger. "So, he's finally sold me out." His hand started to burrow in his pockets, searching them in vain. "He's gone and sold me out to the Zaccharas… traitor."

Max swallowed hard and wondered what was going on.


	7. Chapter 7

Part Seven

Elizabeth was near the breaking point during yet another cooking lesson. She'd begun to forget what it was they were working on. She'd tried to ask questions of Gaetana, but the woman, while pleasant, still had no understanding of English.

Between the proper slicing of vegetables and the proper use of wine at the table, Elizabeth found out that she was developing an allergy to parmesan cheese… or at least she was hoping to. The one benefit from this all was that when she returned home, and she had to hold onto the hope that she would, she'd be able to cook Italian food in her sleep or start a catering business on the side.

The door opened and both women startled, turning to face the door. Elizabeth's shadow gave a measuring look to the man in the doorway. Rail thin and awkward in his own skin, the man tugged at his collar and then resettled his glasses on his nose. He gave the older woman a nod and one to Gaetana. To Elizabeth he gave a deep bow as though she had somehow acquired a royal heritage. "I have come to teach you-"

"Oh, thank God!" Elizabeth wiped her hands on her apron and moved toward him with a smile. "I don't care 'what' it is as long as you know how to speak English…"

* * *

Jason listened to Max carefully on the phone and fought the urge to throw it against the wall. It was Max he wanted to throw against the wall. "Look… yes, whatever… look, Max… MAX!" Jason took a long breath. "Get his doctor to come and see him, he's not in his right mind that should be easy enough to see. And let me know what's going on… no… I have something more important to do."

Closing the phone he looked up at Spinelli and saw the shock on the young man's face before he dove back into his internet search.

Johnny sat on the couch, a discarded newspaper spread on the table. "Sounds like you're having as much fun with Sonny as I had with my father."

"Sonny's a good man."Jason would say no more.

Taking the hint, Johnny moved aside the sports section and waved his hand at the seat across from him. "Stan and Compu-geek are hard at work, you've got men searching the city, how about you sit down and take your mind off things."

Jason looked down at the coffee table and the chess game that Johnny had revealed. "Chess."

"Do you play? Dad always insisted I learn how to play. Strategy, he insisted, must be learned and relearned if you want to succeed."

"Chess." Jason repeated the word. "Anthony sent us a bunch of boxes… the first one had a chess game in it. White queen missing, the king without his head… it was the first thing that told us something was missing… someONE was missing."

Johnny sat up, curious. "What about the other boxes?"

Jason's express was tight. "Sonny destroyed them all before I could see them."

Standing up from the couch Johnny walked up to Jason and set a hand on his shoulder. "Come with me."

* * *

"Please," Elizabeth pleaded with a whisper, "help me," but her tutor merely continued on.

"There is little time, Miss Zacchara, and many phrases that your father wishes you to learn." He leaned in and gave her an awkward smile. "Later you will have time to become fluent, but for now we must be satisfied with making you barely conversive in the language by the party."

"Party?"

His expression spoke clearly to her. She didn't have to understand Italian to understand that he had let something slip. "Let us begin again. How do you say-"

* * *

Johnny clicked on the storeroom light and the two of them stared at the pile of packages. Johnny spoke first. "Did they look like these?"

Jason nodded and watched as Johnny opened the first one.

Another chess set. "An original gift giver is he not?" The strange phrase caught Jason off guard and he could only watch as Johnny tilted the box so he could see it. The white queen was missing, the white king missing its head.

"Let's see the other ones," Jason reached for the chess set.

Johnny stopped him and turned the set around to lift up the black king. There was a note underneath it. "Dad always played the black pieces." He opened the note read it and showed it to Jason.

YOU THOUGHT I WAS DEAD… YOU NEVER FOLLOW UP!

SO HERE'S A CHANCE FOR YOU GET THINGS RIGHT.

CAN YOU FIND THE MISSING PIECE?

"Jason," Johnny looked at his new confederate, "let's get these boxes into the other room and go through them."

* * *

Sonny sorted through his mail, tossing most of the envelopes to the floor, missing the trash can and not caring. He was still brooding over Jason's betrayal and trying hard not to act on the blood-thirsty feelings he felt roiling around inside of him. It was better to sit in his office and brood rather than kill Jason Morgan… so far…

The next envelope stopped him, the feel of the paper superior to the usual cheap paper of a regular No.10, this one was expensive and therefore worth his attention.

He opened it and read the words a few times over before he smiled. An invitation from an old… friend. This might just be the kind of diversion he needed.

Picking up his phone he called the hangar. "Get the plane ready. International flight. I'll be there in a few hours."


	8. Chapter 8

Part Eight

Stan helped them clear off every flat space in the room, but Spinelli was kept at work on the computers, intermittently sipping orange soda and devouring bags of chips as he went. He barely spared them a glance until he heard the magic words. Or rather, magic word.

"What did you say?" Spinelli fairly fell out of his chair as he turned around.

The enforcer could only shake his head as Stan stated the obvious. "Candy." Johnny held a handful of lollipops and Jason had a few packages of cookies.

Jason nearly trembled with rage. "Anthony Zacchara sent cookies?"

Johnny looked at the tootsie rolls in his hand. "He never even let us have these kinds of sweets."

Stan tried to help out. "Maybe it's a reminder of something you couldn't have when you were a kid? Is that the clue?"

"Don't think so," Johnny continued, "it's too… straightforward. My father was always a sick bastard. The games he played with us were always double edged swords. Even when we won we lost."

Standing quiet lost in his thoughts Jason remembered the night on the parapet. Anthony was going to kill one of them… he only gave them the ability to choose. "His games haven't changed much then."

Johnny dropped the lollipops back in the box. "Oreos… yick.. what is that stuff in the middle anyway… I doubt it even rots."

"And what is wrong with that," Spinelli argued. "Oreos are amazing.. the white stuff inside is HEAVEN…" he sighed a wistful little sound before turning back to his computer. "If you won't eat them… I will."

"Later," Jason hushed him, "you have work to do… see if Anthony owns any distributor businesses. Emphasis on Candy and Cookies."

Johnny nodded with an appreciative smile. "Good one, Morgan."

* * *

Elizabeth was becoming tongue-tied… or rather tongue confused. She'd begun, halfway through the day mixing up her words and saying part of her sentences in Italian and part in English. Her tutor, rather than being upset was thrilled.

"You learn quickly, brava!"

She gave him half a smile. After all she was a motivated learner. Her boys were back in Port Charles and although Anthony had told her they were safe, she feared for them every second. It was that fear that kept her focused on learning these crazy lessons.

Her tutor opened the book again and pointed out another picture. "What is this?"

She looked at the picture of the art museum and couldn't hold back the tears that she'd been holding in so far. Images and dreams of another life and another time flooded into her mind and she covered her face with her hands and began to cry.

* * *

"Sonny?" Carly stepped into the Penthouse and looked around the living room. Nothing. "Sonny? If you're hiding from me I'm going to kick your-"

"Mom!" Morgan covered his ears. "Don't say bad words!"

"I'm going to kick your ass!" Carly shoved the door open and started to look around. Morgan closed the door behind them and looked around at the room. It was way too clean, he surmised. Cleaner than when his dad was living there. The maid must have just come in and cleaned up. Shrugging his shoulders he made his way upstairs to his dad's office. There was always something to play with in there and if he wasn't around, how would he know?

The young Corinthos rocketed up the stairs and burst into the office ignoring his mother's 'Don't make a mess!' warning and climbed up on his dad's chair. He was too small to see the top without tucking his legs underneath him. When he finally got himself settled he looked around for something to do.

There weren't any cool looking toys on the desk, but at least there was paper to draw on. He lifted up the piece of paper in the center of the desk. There was writing on one side, facing writing like adults did when they didn't want little kids reading stuff and the other side was blank.

He drew on the blank side. Sure, he liked playing around with his dad's stuff but he didn't want to get yelled at. He wasn't stupid.

Morgan managed to get a drawing started of the dog he really really really wanted his mom to get for him when the woman in question appeared in the doorway. "Morgan! I've been looking for you… we have to go. Your dad's not here so we're leaving."

He set down the pen and lifted up his drawing. "Here, Mommy…. for you!"

"Yes, yes, that's nice, sweetie," she shoved the drawing in her purse, "let's go and find uncle Jason… he'll know where your father is."

A little miffed that his mother didn't even look at the drawing, Morgan huffed along behind her toward the door. Maybe Uncle Jason would like to see the cool picture.

* * *

Elizabeth watched Anthony Zacchara pace around her in half circles on the hardwood floor. "I'm busy taking care of all the details for my party and what do i hear? You're crying, disturbing the staff? What is going on, Elizabeth? Aren't you happy with all the attention I'm giving you?"

There must have been something to the 'Zacchara' blood in her because she almost argued back with the older man. She kept it in check, though. She didn't want to anger him. Not until she knew she had a plan to get out of there safely.

"I'm sorry… I guess I'm just tired. I haven't had much sleep since I arrived. The time zones are so different and I-"

"You're starting to sound like you're weak." She tensed up at the criticism. "Then again, you've been raised by other people and from what I can tell they didn't take much care in how you were brought up." He looked at her closely, the dark smudges under her eyes should have given him concern. "You look like death warmed over and I should know," he laughed out loud at his own humor. "If I want you in any condition for the fun, you need some rest." He waved at the door. "Go… go and get some rest… you have an hour or so before the dressmakers arrive."

Elizabeth nearly fell back into her chair as she looked up at the insane dictator standing before her. "Dressmaker?"

He threw up his hands in disgust. "Women!" He nailed her with a sharp look. "Don't you know anything about presentation?" He shook his head, arms folded over his chest. No one picks the ugly cake in the window."

Anthony Zacchara turned his back on Elizabeth and stared out into the garden.

Elizabeth, eager to find some moment of sanity stumbled out of the room under the watchful gaze of her 'attendant.'

* * *

Spinelli stood up and announced to no one in particular. "The Jackal is fried! He need to refuel his batteries. He will be back momentarily to continue on with his search." He walked to the hallway, stopped, turned around, affected a deep bow that seemed right out of a period film. "I shall return."

Johnny raised an eyebrow at Jason after the boy disappeared. "You let him have access to your bank accounts?"

Stan raised his hand. "That's my job, not his."

"Phew," Johnny smiled, "thank God."

Spinelli walked down the hallway returning from the kitchen, his arms laden with sunchips and organic iced tea. "Johnny Zacchara," he murmured, "is a dork." He huffed as he continued. "The least they could have done was let me have some of the oreo cookies!"

A moment later he realized he had gone down the wrong hallway. Turning back around he tried another branch and then another. Realizing he was hopelessly lost in the Zacchara house he called Jason on his cell phone.

"Morgan," Jason's voice was short and terse, "what is it now, Spinelli?"

"Stonecold," Spinelli gave a great and ponderous sigh, "I am so freakin' lost."

There was something that sounded like a swear word, then silence, then-

"Cyber-geek, this is Johnny Zacchara, stop wasting time."

"Dude, I am so not wasting time, I'm freakin' lost.. your house has no character… all the hallways look the same."

Another huff and Spinelli was beginning to wonder at how much the two mob men sounded alike. "Open a door, Spinelli… you CAN do that, yeah?"

"Duh!" Spinelli, in truth, had to juggle his food but managed to open the door to a room a few feet away. "And?"

"What do you see?" Johnny's sing-song voice was terse to say the least.

"Oh, yeah… cool…" Spinelli looked around the room. "I see a table, and a window, really ugly drapes."

"Something 'different' than any other room, nerd."

"I'm getting to it." Spinelli moved further into the room. "I see a painting."

"Try again," he murmured aside to someone, "I can't believe you haven't shot the dork."

Jason's voice was muffle but he could hear his words. "I have."

Spinelli moved closer to the painting. "It's kind of big, round, but not circle-round, like the portrait on money-round. And she's pretty, oh cool, there's a name under the picture, maybe that'll help… hmm.. okay… holy freakin' sh-" The food hit the floor, chips bursting out over the carpet. "Stonecold, Dude! Figured it out! Soooo totally freakin' figured it out GET IN HERE NOW!"

Johnny's voice barked over the phone. "Where the hell are you, Spinelli?"

Staggering back, Spinelli focused on the room around him and then screamed into the phone. "Books… a ton of books! Dude," he laughed, "you have a library!"

Johnny heard him. "Stay right there, we're coming."

* * *

Sonny sat back in the chair of his jet and smiled as the attendant brought him a drink.

"Is there anything else, Mr. Corinthos?"

He waved her away and looked at the pilot who appeared into the cabin. "We'll be ready to leave in a few minutes, sir. The flight plan has been… edited the way you asked. It says that we're headed to Paris."

"But the ground crew in Italy?"

The pilot nodded. "They'll be waiting when we land, including your car." He gave the mob boss a smile. "We'll be there in no time." The pilot stopped and turned back around. "If you don't mind me asking, sir. Is this business or pleasure."

Sonny gave him a thoughtful smile. "Maybe both."


	9. Chapter 9

Part Nine

Spinelli was most likely unhinged. That was Johnny Zacchara's opinion, especially when he saw him in the library. The boy was doing some sort of strange native dance that was unfortunately smashing chips into the Persian rug beneath hi s feet. There was also the matter of his strange chanting.

Jason pushed past Johnny and stared at Spinelli. "…the center of a tootsie roll? I'll tell ya, the same with oreos and reese's cups… what's at the center of a tootsie roll-"

"Spinelli!" Jason's bark stopped the young man in mid hop and he nearly fell over his feet to keep upright.

"Stonecold, you will be so proud of me… I totally figured it out."

Johnny folded his arms across his chest. "Figured 'what' out?"

"The candy clue." He held out his hands, waiting for some kind of reaction and didn't get it. "You know… those candies and super sweet cookie packages? Tootsie rolls… what's inside of it.. something different… and then there's the oreos… same thing… the inside of it is what makes it yummy!" He looked from Stan to Johnny to Jason… nothing.

"Okay… so we're looking for what's missing."

"Candy filling?" Johnny's twisted humor was crackling with impatience.

"Out with it, Spinelli," Jason pushed, "we don't have time to waste."

The young man's expression darkened. It wasn't an expression they were used to seeing so Stan gave him a gentler push. "What did you find?"

Spinelli moved closer to the portrait. "Could you tell me who this woman is?" He indicated the portrait above the fireplace. His smile broad and nearly giddy.

"That," Johnny sighed, "would be my mother… Maria Zacchara."

"Stonecold?" Spinelli gave him a smile. "Does the fair Maternal One have a middle name?'

"She doesn't like it."

"Not the point, Stonecold… the name if you please?" Spinelli pointed to the small brass plaque at center of the frame.

"Imogene."

Johnny turned a surprised look to Jason. "Imogene? That's-"

"Mr. Younger Zacchara's mother's middle name! Look!"

Stan scooted up and took a good look at the plaque. "That's what it says."

Jason looked up at the portrait. The features of the woman's face weren't similar to Elizabeth's but her eyes… those startling blue eyes were a dead giveaway. "But how? Why?"

Stan had his iPhone out and had snapped a picture of Johnny. "Look." He crossed over to stand between Jason and Johnny. Calling up a picture of Elizabeth from the General Hospital website, he put them side by side. "I have a facial recognition program."

It took less than a minute for the program to work its magic. He held out the device and Johnny took it in his hands. He stared down at the image and the corresponding percentages and other results. He handed it over to Jason before he raked his fingers through his hair. "I thought when Claudia died it was just me against the world… or really, my father." He met Jason's eyes over the top of the device. "Looks like I'm not alone anymore."

Jason nodded. The device in his hand made it clear to him. Although he had difficulty seeing art and understanding images that weren't straightforward, he had no such problem with this. It spelled it out for him. There was a 93% similarity between the two images. "She's your sister."

Johnny's smile grew until it fairly glowed. Stan, looking over at the mobster was startled. "When you smile like that… you really do look alike."

"So," Spinelli breathed, "is everyone impressed?"

Giving the boy a pat on the shoulder, Johnny nodded. "It was there… right in front of me." He turned to Jason and saw the deep pain in the enforcer's expression. "Something wrong?"

"These clues…" Jason rubbed at his temples, messing up his hair as he struggled to understand, "I… I just don't… I'm lost with this… this…"

Stan stepped in, his voice low, "Jason, don't beat yourself up about this stuff… you're a whiz with plans, but this kind of puzzle." He looked at Spinelli. "That's why you have us for this kind of thing. We can untwist this stuff… but you're the one that's going to have to come up with a plan."

"We still don't know where she is." Johnny's tone was darker now. "And when I find my father… I'm going to damn well make sure he's dead this time."

A muscle in Jason's jaw ticked. "I'll help you."

* * *

Anthony's cell phone rang and he looked down at it. "I have to take this… it's from one of the other families."

Elizabeth looked down at the dresses laid out over her bed, hung from hooks, and over every spare surface. The colors were all dark, the fabrics were all expensive, and not a single one of them looked like something she would own. The dressmakers were an odd combination, one extraordinarily 'fabulous' man in his late 20's who used English words in all the wrong ways and two older women who apparently knew how to sew, but not how to say a word in response to her.

Somewhere in the mind numbing fashion show/marathon Anthony Zacchara arrived and stared at the green dress she wore. He had a quick discussion with the young man and then he stared at her with a critical eye. "Fine."

The dressmakers disappeared, leaving the room scattered with dresses and her alone with Anthony Zacchara. "You look lovely." He moved closer. "Remember what you were told earlier. Shoulders back, don't bite your lip, smile." He waited for her to perform the corrections before he continued. "It's time I explain the end game here, Elizabeth and I expect you to listen closely."

She was listening alright. She wanted to get this over with and go home.

"I'm going to have a party for the families and you, as my daughter, will be the hostess. This is a very important party and the only thing you have to worry about is performing your duties well enough to make me happy." He gave her a significant look and continued. "Claudia was never much of a hostess. She didn't really have anyone to teach her that's why I gave you all this help."

"Yes… they've been a great help, thank you." Elizabeth smiled until she thought she'd cry from the exertion of it all. "And I can't wait to see the guest list." She saw his curious look and continued on. "I just want to make sure we have enough food… and if I know who is coming I can find out if they have any favorites and-"

He laughed, a full belly laugh that seemed to resemble all too much Santa's rolling laughter but this man's mirth only chilled her to the bone. "Maybe you're more of a Zacchara than I thought. You're trying to get information out of me, aren't you?" He stepped forward and placed a kiss on each of her cheeks. "Brava, Elizabeth… you are truly proving yourself worthy of the Zacchara name." He stepped back and gave her a wolfish grin. Five families… that's five heads and each of them will have a guest."

"What about the guards? Enforcers? Won't they be coming as well?" Her heart was pounding in her chest.

"There will be guards, but they don't eat at table, or didn't you know that?" He gave her another measuring glance. "Then again, you've only seen the Corinthos family close up and they," he chuckled, "are a mixed up lot."

"I'll look forward to seeing them again."

"As hostess," he pressed, "you'll need to give each family equal time or you'll slight our guests and that," he warned, "would be very bad… very bad indeed." He suddenly brightened, "but I'm sure you'll do your best, my dear, and for the sake of little Cameron and Jacob it had better be your very best."

* * *

Jason looked up as Johnny reentered the room. "We have a problem and a possible solution." Once he had everyone's attention he continued on. I just had to explain to not one, but two irate bosses that I wasn't playing games with them."

"Your father?" Jason felt dread and hope mix in his stomach like a milk shake and tequila… badly.

"They've both received invitations to a party for the five families, given by the head of the Zacchara family."

"Where?"

"Italy."

Jason had his phone out and dialed with a single swipe of a finger. "Sonny's phone is off." He dialed again. "Max? Hey… I… Max, wait… Max, Shut up!" Jason paced around behind Johnny's sofa. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Look, all i need to know from you is… where is Sonny?" He listened, his jaw tightening like a vise. "Great."

Closing the phone he turned Johnny. "Sonny's on a trip overseas."

"Dude, Sonny left you behind?" Spinelli regretted his words and bent back over the laptop. "His flight plan says Paris, but you know how we do things."

Jason nodded. "I'll call the airport and charter a flight, we'll be in the air in-"

"I can do you one better, let's get on the road." He grabbed his keys and gave Jason a big smile. "I have a jet, too… remember? And besides, this isn't just 'your' problem anymore, Jason. She's my sister, let's go get her back."

Jason nodded. "You drive, I have something I need to do."

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, a few miles from oblivion, a phone rang.

It startled the man asleep a few feet away, bringing him to his feet as he rubbed at his eyes with one hand, trying to wake up from his restful sleep. He looked at the caller ID and smiled.

Picking up the phone he flicked it open. "Well, hello, Jason… it's been a long time."


	10. Chapter 10

Part Ten

Johnny settled into his seat on the plane and tried to ignore the incessant babble from Spinelli in the aft cabin. He looked over at Jason and gave the man a smile. "Talk about strange bedfellows, huh?"

Nodding, Jason rubbed his palms on the thighs of his jeans. "Yeah, but it will be worth it when… when I see her… make sure she's safe."

"Safe," Johnny eased back, leaning one arm against the window ledge. "From what I've heard… that's a word that doesn't seem to work for Elizabeth."

"Around me, you mean." Jason's eyes were dark with warning. "Just because you found out you're her brother, you think you understand-"

"Hold on," Johnny's hands were up in defense, "don't jump down my throat, Jason. She's had trouble from a lot of different sources. Having Lucky for a husband wasn't a walk through the park. That trouble with the fire at her house, the hostage crisis at the hospital… wasn't there some epidemic?" Johnny chuckled. "And yet, she's still making things work, raising two children on her own," his bright smile was proud. "She's probably too strong to be a Zacchara. Claudia would melt if her manicure went wrong."

Jason nodded, deep in thought. The laundry list that Johnny had just rattled off was pretty impressive and seemed, the way Elizabeth carried it off, just another part of life. "She's strong… stronger than she thinks."

"Maybe," Johnny offered, crossing one leg casually over the other, "stronger than you think." He laughed off the denial on Jason's lips. "I'm sure my father's underestimated her." There was a quiet moment between the two. "I wonder when he started to think she…. she was one of us?"

Jason smiled, a memory leaping into his mind. "It was the Black and White Ball."

Johnny nodded. "I remember you with her that night… but I'm pretty sure there's more to this story." Johnny looked at the clock. "And we have time…"

* * *

Carly flopped down on her couch, yelling up after Morgan as he rocketed up the stairs. "We'll go get something to eat soon!"

"Whatever, mom!"

She was pissed… good and royally pissed. Sonny's phone was off and Jason wasn't taking her calls. Well he had taken the first one… totally dismissed her by telling her there was a life or death something-or-other going on… but she doubted it.

Instead she reached into her purse to grab her wallet and pulled out Morgan's drawing instead. She shrugged over the odd looking chicken-scratch but the paper between her fingers was of the finest quality. "Interesting." She turned it over and smiled. "Calligraphy by hand… impressive." She read the words and her smile pressed into a thin line and then into a tight scowl. "The Zaccharas? Is he insane?" Picking up the phone she dialed her number one emergency number. "Hello, yes, I need you come and take care of the kids. Yes, I know it's last minute, charge me whatever you like, I need to get on a plane… so hurry up."

She made quick work of packing her bag. She was… a woman on a mission.

* * *

The property was well guarded… well, sort of. It was easy enough to find a place to slip through when they guards were distracted. Even carrying the large duffle across his back, he managed to elude any detection all the way to the house. Now, he just had to find one feisty little brunette and work some magic.

* * *

Robin smiled as she stroked Jake's hair. The boy had fallen asleep in her lap after he'd talked to Jason. "So you're on your way to Italy, hmm?"

"Yeah… we've got an idea of where Anthony's keeping her."

"You'll get her back," she kept her tone bright, "you know that, right?" The silence was deafening. "The boys will be safe with us, and that army of guards you have outside."

"She'll come back to them, Robin… that I can promise you."

"I know, Jason." She blinked back her own tears. "Just take care of yourself, too…"

Jason's whisper stirred up tears. "She's all that matters, Robin."

* * *

Elizabeth wrapped the blanket tightly around her body. The chill she felt wasn't only because of the cold… she was so close to getting everything done so that she could leave… and leave soon. She was only half convinced that Anthony was serious about this daughter thing, but really it didn't matter if he was or not. There was still hope. Beyond the idea of actually making him happy enough to let her go… was the hope that Sonny and Jason would be attending the party.

Jason… the thought of him brought a little warmth and hope into her heart. He would help her… if only for Jake's sake. She would accept it for their son and yes, she would walk away from him again if that was what he wanted, but he would help her. She knew it… deep down inside.

* * *

Johnny had just closed his eyes to catch a few minutes of sleep when Jason spoke out of the blue.

"I didn't think it was her." The enforcer looked down at his empty hands. "I didn't think… the white queen… I couldn't think that it would be her."

Sitting up, Johnny stretched out his legs and gave Jason his full attention.

"I had pushed her so far away from me to save her from this kind of thing, ignored her so many times when I should have been there for her, all because I wanted to keep her safe." He looked at Johnny, pain burning in his blue eyes. "And the only thing I did was lose. Lost time with her, our connection, and our-"

"The boy is yours, isn't he?" Johnny enjoyed the tick in Jason's jaw, it was a huge tell. "It's not that hard to see it." He grinned even more. "He looks like you… except when he smiles…"

"Then," Jason's voice barely scratched out of his throat, "he looks like her."

Johnny nodded, "We'll get her back, Jason. And then maybe you can make up for all the times you screwed things up, hmm?"

* * *

Elizabeth felt wind on her cheek and brushed her hair back once… twice… and the third time she sat up looking for the open window and stared right into the face of a ghost.

His grin was visible in the soft glow of the moon. "Hey, Lizbits."


	11. Chapter 11

Part Eleven

Elizabeth felt wind on her cheek and brushed her hair back once… twice… and the third time she sat up looking for the open window and stared right into the face of a ghost.

His grin was visible in the soft glow of the moon. "Hey, Lizbits."

"Johnny?" Elizabeth could barely speak around the knot in her throat. "Johnny O'Brien?"

He held out his arms and smiled brighter. "Lookin' good for a dead man, hmm?"

She didn't answer him. Instead, Elizabeth scrambled off the bed and into his arms, nearly hugging the breath out of him.

"Whoa there, tigress." He took her by the shoulders and leaned her back a bit. "My goodness, but you grew up good, Elizabeth." His grin turned wolfish with the moonlight gleaming off of his canines. "Damn good." A thought seemed to stop his eager perusal of her nightgown. "But if I keep ogling you I think Jason's going to have my head on his wall." He felt the tremor through her body and smiled. "I'm honored, Lizbits. You think I have psychic powers to show up here on my own… but you know it's Jason that called me."

She shrank a little, withdrawing from the hope that started to flare in her heart. "I was hoping that he would come… but-"

"He's on his way, along with Johnny Zacchara," he shrugged, "strange bedfellows, I guess." Taking her hand he sat down the bed and drew her down with him. Bouncing a little on the edge he gave her another grin. "You know…"

Elizabeth smiled, swatting at his arm. "Johnny… "

"All right… all right… let's get down to business… I've brought you some presents."

* * *

The plane disappeared into a hangar at the end of the runway and Jason followed Johnny down the stairs and looked at the group of assembled men. Leaning close to Johnny, Jason asked, "You trust these men?"

Johnny's grin was sure. "I learned a long time ago that if I wanted to trust men, I had to pick them myself." He held out a hand toward the men. "These men were all hand-picked by me." He folded his arms resolutely across his chest. "I don't trust my father at all, Jason… it's time you learn we have to trust each other. It's not about the business… It's not about Corinthos-Morgan… it's about-"

"Elizabeth." Jason nodded and stepped forward to meet the men.

* * *

In his hotel suite, Sonny Corinthos was pacing along the carpet in front of his bed. He held the phone cradled to his ear. "Yes, that's right… " he listened a bit, "I need to know my credit line… yes, the whole thing. I need to know what I can get my hands on immediately."

A beep sounded in his ear and he looked down at his phone. The caller ID said simply – CARLY.

He ignored the call and continued on. "Yes, yes… so I can access how much? Ah, good. Thank you, that's all I needed to know."

* * *

Johnny continued to explain his presents and was surprised at how well Elizabeth was doing with the whole situation. "You know, you're really something, Elizabeth."

She touched her hair. "Yep, rats nest, bags under my eyes, boy howdy I look sexy."

He shook his head. "You look sexy, trust me… I know," he gave her a wink, "but I'm talking about you." He waved at her with a free hand. "You're calm, methodical, on it… you're going to handle this, Elizabeth… you're going to be all right."

She grinned. "I'll have you there with me."

Johnny shrugged. "In a manner of speaking." He could see a flare of fear in her eyes. "Hey, don't get upset, let's keep going okay." He held out another piece. "What about this one?"

* * *

Anthony stood in the center of the ballroom and smiled. He easily remembered the anticipation of a similar party years ago. Here in this very room he'd met his first wife and she'd given him a daughter. His expression quickly soured. Claudia had been a disappointment on so many levels, but Elizabeth. The young woman was beautiful and malleable. She would do well in her new role. He would make sure of it.

He turned and saw Xaviera standing at his side, the quiet woman had been Elizabeth's constant companion since she'd been brought to the villa. He smiled and asked her, "Will she be ready tomorrow night?"

"As ready as she can be with only days of instruction."

Anthony smiled. "You've done a wonderful job, Xaviera. You'll be rewarded for this."

She nodded. "Your lawyer will be here after breakfast to instruct her in the business and the 'law.'"

"I'm sure Elizabeth has no idea about the true inner workings of the business. Not that Sonny should have told her, but I doubt he's even told Jason Morgan about all the little 'rules and regulations' that we have to abide by." His eyes held a glint. "To think I'm about to retire into a lifestyle that will be… very very comfortable." He sighed. "It will all be worth it in the end."

She nodded.

"Now, if you would be so kind," he began, "I'm off to bed, when the maintenance men show up, please have them finish the work they left from yesterday."

* * *

Stan looked over from his seat at the main table. "The other families are here in town. Small contingents. Lawyers, enforcers, minimal guards, it's pretty straightforward."

Johnny nodded. "Nothing to worry about."

Jason's dark look only made Johnny's smile larger.

"Don't get the wrong impression, Jason," he moved closer to the enforcer and looked him straight in the eye. "We don't know each other that well, but this is just how I handle stress. I laugh it off. I get the feeling you probably put your fist through a wall," he looked at the interior of their villa, "I'd appreciate it if you'd 'not' do that here, I kind of like the way they decorated it, but-"

"I play pool."

Johnny stopped short and smiled. "Pool, huh? Well, when we get Elizabeth back to Port Charles we'll have to play a few games." He looked at the blond man and wondered aloud. "Does Elizabeth play?"

Jason shrugged, his mouth turning up at the corners. "She needs reminders from time to time."

"Reminders?" Johnny looked over at Stan. "She's a nurse with a college degree, I'm sure she can figure out stripes and solids."

Jason's smile broadened as his body had a very visceral reaction to a pleasant memory. "Sometimes she needs help… lining up the shot."

The picture popped into each of their heads at the same time and Johnny grabbed a piece of paper from the desk and threw it at Jason. "Morgan! That's my sister you're bending over the pool table."

Spinelli yelped and covered his young ears.

Jason's expression hardened just the slightest bit. "And it won't be the last time."

* * *

Johnny gave Elizabeth one last hug and pressed a kiss to her temple. "You just remember everything we talked about, Lizbits and this time tomorrow you'll be on your way home. Okay?"

She held him tight for a moment longer before she let him go and watched him walk toward the door. "Wait.. what are you doing? You'll be seen!"

Smiling, Johnny opened the door wide enough for the hall light to shine through. He was dressed as a maintenance man. There had been scores of them around the villa over the last few days. Johnny would blend right in.

Elizabeth took in long breath and let it blow out slowly. "I'll be fine, Johnny O'Brien." She grinned. "When this is over I'm cooking you dinner."

He winced and she wagged a finger at him. "Hey, I've been taking lessons!"

He gave her a salute and disappeared, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Carly struggled to find a comfortable position in her chair. The first-class seats had all be sold out and she was having to make do in economy. She wasn't faring well and everyone within five rows knew it. Mumbling under her breath she stuffed her pillow back under her head. "Someone," she groused, "is going to pay for this… Damn you, Sonny."


	12. Chapter 12

Part 12

Jason stared at his image in the mirror and shook his head slowly. "I always hated dressing up like this. Always tried to get out of it when I could."

Johnny looked over at him and gave him a shrug. "It took a miracle to find the right size for you, so I can see how you'd hate them. "Do you realize that muscles and tuxedos don't usually work together?" I'm sure the tailor is taking a few valium and heading to bed as soon as he gets home."

Stan leaned against the wall and chuckled softly. "Yeah, but it was the shoulder holster that Jason's got on that had the man almost fainting to the floor."

Jason silenced Spinelli's laughter with a look. A quick look at the clock and he nodded. "We have to get going if we're going to make it on time."

Spinelli picked up his laptop and tucked it under his arm. Stan adjusted the headset and speaker he had on and picked up his computer as well. They preceded Johnny and Jason outside to the car.

Johnny grabbed Jason's arm. "I know this goes without saying, but… my father is bat-shit crazy… don't turn your back on him, don't give him the benefit of the doubt, if he gives you any reason to shoot-"

"I'll kill him. Don't worry. I'm not going to make the same mistake twice."

* * *

Elizabeth moved from one pot to another. Checking bread and sauces so that nothing burned or boiled over. She knew enough Italian to offer comments and instructions as she went along. She knew her voice was tight and her expression tighter. There were a ton of things on her mind. Her meeting with the attorney had been an eye-opener to say the least.

She thought she knew how things worked, but after the first ten minutes she was glad that she'd had experience at the hospital remember long lists of facts to use later. There were so many interesting caveats to the rules within the mob. No, none of them were written down, that would be very very dangerous, but the families all knew them… and better yet, SHE knew them.

Elizabeth sniffed at the tomato sauce for one of the dishes and as she lowered the spoon back down to the cutting board and giggled. Back in the day, when she'd been living with Jason and Zander… imagine…. if she'd known all the things she knew now… how different things would have been.

* * *

Sonny took one last look at himself in the mirror. The tailor made tux was impeccable and the starched white shirt glowed against his dark skin. He had given up looking for his pills. Someone had moved the bottle and was trying to try to his patience and he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.

As he lifted his arm to tug at his cuff and saw the anxious look on his guard's face. "Max?"

"Yeah, Sonny?"

"You got something you want to say?"

Max swallowed hard and took a deep breath in and let it out before he said a word. "I can't help but think you really need to talk to Jason. He's like your family, Sonny. He's always stood by you." Sonny implacable expression should have been enough to keep him quiet, but he continued on. "I heard you mention Elizabeth when you were on the phone with Mr. Zacchara. Given her past with Jason, don't you think-"

"Past is past, Max. And if you want to have a job in the future," he stared down at his hands, the fingers clenching and unclenching, "you'll stop talking right now." The boss's look in the mirror was dark and foreboding. "Go and bring the car around. I'm ready to go."

Hanging his head, Max left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Sonny snarled in the mirror. "Business is business and Jason should have learned a long time ago that when it comes down to it… I'm the boss." Taking one last look at himself, Sonny headed for the door.

* * *

Elizabeth stared at herself in the floor-length mirror and couldn't help the blur of tears in her eyes. Her makeup had been expertly applied and no one could see the dark shadows beneath her eyes… and the blush only served to accentuate the high cheekbones that had been caused by her weight loss over the last few days.

The dressmaker had done an amazing job and Elizabeth only wished that she would have had an opportunity to wear something like it to a happy occasion. Xaviera was watching her even more closely now than she had on any of the other days. She knew it was only Anthony's orders, but she couldn't seem to find any affection for the woman. She was like a carrion crow following behind the dying animal. Elizabeth wondered if she fell to the floor from fear and weakness if the woman would pick at her bones.

The clock was ticking down. Anthony, her father… she would never be comfortable calling him that, had told her when she was expected down in the hall to welcome their guests and she wasn't going to be late. She wasn't going to give him a chance to find something wrong with her tonight. No, she wanted everything to go well so he wouldn't focus his attention on her. Her plan needed a little bit of privacy.

She turned and headed for the door only to stop short when Xaviera was suddenly blocking the door. Elizabeth had to reach to the back of her mind to pull out what she hoped were the right words. "Il bagno?"

The older woman narrowed her eyes at Elizabeth and then wrenched open the door. She walked with Elizabeth all the way to the door and even when Elizabeth shut the door behind her she knew Xaviera would stand outside as long as it took for her to come out.

With fear guiding her hands she lifted the lid off of the back of the toilet and looked into the reservoir. With a grimace she reached her hand in and took out the plastic wrapped package Johnny had left for her. Using a hand towel she wiped off the outside of the package and turned on the sink as she ripped open the tape and removed her present. She reached under her skirt and took care of hiding her contraband before rolling the plastic back up and dropping it back into the water. The sink covered the soft clatter as the cover set back on.

* * *

Sonny opened the door and went stock still. Standing outside of his villa was Jason Morgan and less than a foot behind him was Johnny Zacchara. Narrowing his eyes at the two men, Sonny ground out a few choice words.

"Nice to see you too, Sonny." Johnny's smile was measured. He wasn't really trying to upset the boss. He knew how dangerous the man could be when provoked… or even when he wasn't.

"Sonny." Jason's quiet greeting fell into the deathly silence between the two men.

"I should have known you would follow me, Jason. I'm surprised it took you this long." He flicked an invisible piece of lint off of his sleeve. "I'm only surprised at the scum you brought with you."

Johnny managed to keep quiet.

"Do you," Jason ground out the words, "do you want to explain to me what you're doing here?"

"I'm the boss, Jason." Sonny leaned forward, but his words fairly roared from his lips. "I don't have to answer your questions!"

"About this you do."

"The hell you say-"

"About this," Jason was roaring back, "you do! This is about Elizabeth! Didn't you think I'd want to know? Didn't you think I'd want to be there!?"

"At this point, Jason, I don't care what you want, this is for my business." Jason's eyes went cold and his body went still. Sonny, sadly, didn't see the change in him. "If Anthony Zacchara was selling off a donkey in exchange for his business interests, then I'd be buying the damn donkey!"

Johnny's expression was tight and drawn, but he let Jason handle it… for the moment.

"She is the mother of my son," Jason's voice sent a chill over Johnny's skin, "and I love her."

"Since when," Sonny smiled, a dark grin that didn't rise anywhere near his eyes, "does love matter in cases like this? Besides, it's not like we haven't shared women before, Jason… she'll still be in the family."

Johnny's reflexes were quick. Very quick. Before Max had any idea what was going on, Johnny had Jason's hands back at his side instead of around Sonny's neck. "Back it off, Jason… not now… we can't do this now… back it off." Johnny could feel anger rolling in waves off of Jason's body. The man was out for blood. "Remember, the plan."

Somehow, Jason nodded and stepped back. "I'm going to that party for you, Sonny." Jason barely pulled in a breath. "And you are going to sit nice and quiet until I can come back and deal with you."

Sonny shook his head, unimpressed. "I control the business, Jason… I control the men. You can't hold me."

Jason regained his control second by precious second. "I've learned a few things from Johnny over the last couple of days, Sonny… including the fact that if you want to trust your men," Jason stepped to the side, "pick them yourself."

Sonny's eyes focused and just as quickly un-focused as he saw the tall man standing before him. "O'Brien?"

He looked pleased. "You remembered? I'm flattered, Sonny."

The boss turned his confusion on Jason. "But you said… you told me that you… he's supposed to be dead."

"I was supposed to be, but when Jason was having trouble chasing down one dead man he called in another. And now," Johnny O'Brien gave Jason a big grin, "I'm going to be the best baby sitter you've ever seen… and when Jason comes back to 'deal with you' I'm going to enjoy watching."

Later, when they would gather again and talk about it, they would remark on how quiet Sonny had been and how easily he had been led away. Jason believe Elizabeth would find some comfort in knowing that Sonny himself had been out of the loop in regards to John O'Brien's escape from death.

* * *

Carly was having a devil of a time getting a taxi to pick her up at the airport, she finally got a ride by stepped into traffic ahead of a moving car… The driver, once he'd gotten over the fit of nerves after nearly running the woman over, got back in the car and drove off under Carly's instructions.

* * *

Elizabeth stood at the door watching the empty driveway. Three bosses had arrived. Three. Anthony would be number four… so where were Sonny &amp; Jason? She couldn't believe it… Were they going to leave her here alone?

No, No, she tried to reassure herself, they wouldn't do that… they couldn't…

Still, Elizabeth struggled to keep her wits about her as Anthony entered the room. "Well, it's time to get this party started." He held out a hand to Elizabeth, "come, Elizabeth, let's take our guests into dinner."

She wanted to scream that it was too early, but she saw the warning look in his eyes. She crossed the room, aware of the eyes on her and took Anthony's hand. Turning to the other men in the room and their guests she smiled brightly. "Gentlemen… if you'll follow us?"

Anthony gave her hand a pat. "Good girl." He pressed a kiss to her cheek that she managed not to cringe away from. "You'll get the hang of this life yet."

Elizabeth felt oddly calm as she moved about the room, engaging in small talk with the different bosses and their chosen guests. She knew with certainty that every moment someone was watching her, looking for some weakness in her smile, her intelligence, her movement. She kept her shoulders back, her smile bright and she somehow remembered everything she was supposed to do.

And it was all because Cam and Jake were at home and there was nothing… NOT A DAMN THING… that was going to stop her from getting home to them.

"Miss Zacchara, I was wondering if you'd mind speaking with me for a few moments."

Elizabeth looked at the young man speaking with her. He was young, Spinelli young, but he had power because of his family and he knew it. The invitation had only been a formality. He knew she was obligated to speak with him and he would really enjoy seeing her sweat.

"I'd be happy to, Mr.-"

"Orso," he smiled, holding out his arm for her to take, "just Orso." He gave his father a smile as he led her away from the group.

She tried to ignore the way he covered her hand with his, the heat from his skin uncomfortable on her own, but she couldn't pull away. The slight would be inexcusable in this situation. Orso was enjoying the walk, using the time to look down into the deep V of her neckline. "Your father tells us that you've had two children, boys."

"Yes," she struggled to keep her tone calm, "I do."

"Good," he smiled… a little too many teeth showing, "My father had six girls before me. It's nice to know we can start with a boy."

Her laughter was genuine and he didn't seem to take it as a slight. The way he was talking about it he had no clue about the basic factors of biology. Then again, she smiled, he had probably gone through the same inane training that she had gone through… but in his case it was years of it.

"Well," she smiled at him, "I had been hoping for a girl."

Orso was startled at her admission, the flesh between his brows creasing in confusion.

Another man stepped forward and offered his arm. "Enrico," he reminded her. "I believe we have a few minutes of time…" he gave Orso a dismissive look, "alone."

* * *

Jason Morgan was dangerously close to killing someone and he wasn't shy about it.

The two men standing ineffectually at the back of the car tried to make themselves invisible as he changed a tire along the side of the road. Johnny's offers to help were turned away with angry looks and muttered epithets.

By Spinelli's count, although he would die before letting Jason know at that moment, NASCAR crew chiefs would have offered the mob enforcer a job right then and there. When they jumped back into the car, Jason refused to put his tie back on and dared anyone to mention the smudges on the knees of his tux. As he said once, before falling into angry silence. "I don't fucking care what I look like let's go!"

He leaned against the door, his hand dragging again and again over his face.

Johnny understood his frustration. "Jason, I-"

"Not now, Johnny." Jason ground out the words. "We're going to get there and fix this… we have to."

* * *

Elizabeth groaned inwardly. Orso, Enrico, &amp; Andrea. OR as Elizabeth wanted to call them -Manny, Moe, &amp; Jack. Her father had just about crowed as he came to claim her from the third and most inept of the three. "Well," he asked her as he escorted her to the front of the room, "what do you think?"

"I think, there's not a lot my feelings have to do with this… do they?"

His expression went from shock to a smile. "That's my girl… good grasp on the situation." He left her standing there in the center of the dais and stepped to the side. "Gentlemen? If you'll all step up, we'll get the main part of the evening started." He waited while the three contingents gathered at the front. Elizabeth fought the rise in panic that threatened to dissolve into tears. She turned her gaze to the door and prayed.

"You all understand why we're here." He gave a nod to the families. "It's time that I retire from the business and to that end I have one child left that is under my control." He reached out and trailed the back of his hand down her arm. "A pretty one at that." The men laughed quietly, but Elizabeth could feel their eyes roaming over her. "So, to that end… I'm willing to merge my family and my business with another family."

"Just get things started, Zacchara." It was Andrea, which surprised Elizabeth. She hadn't expected him to be so eager.

"You won't get any points for jumping the gun, boy." He grabbed Elizabeth's arm and tugged her forward. "And where," begins Anthony, "do we start the bidding?"

Orso took a step forward. "One million." His father was none too happy with the opening number.

Enrico wasn't about to be undone. "Two."

Andrea looked over his shoulder at his uncle. The two argued silently back and forth and then he spit out. "Two and a half."

The negotiations seemed to sour Anthony's mood. "Disappointing Andrea… I'd like a son in law that takes matters into his own hands."

The price climbed to nearly ten million before Anthony really got interested in the proceedings. He edged closer and closer to the men, watching them start to fight like crocodiles over a piece of meat.

Elizabeth eased back, slowly waiting… waiting…

A sudden flurry of activity rushing toward the door gave Elizabeth one moment to act.

The front doors burst inward before the staff could get to them. The two men standing in the doorway brought silence over the entire gathering. Johnny and Jason took in the whole layout of the room in one hard glance.

Anthony Zacchara straightened up and smiled at the two new additions. "You know, Jason… I was wondering what happened to Sonny. He was sooo eager to come to the party. I'm happy to see you again under these happy circumstances!" He held out a hand toward the other families. "These men are vying to become a part of my family… I know you would like to be with Elizabeth, wouldn't you, Jason?" He smiled and continued on. "Ever since the night of the Black and White Ball I've known how dear dear Elizabeth is to you… but now-"

CLICK

Anthony stopped short, his words dying on his lips as he turned toward his daughter. "Elizabeth?"

"Yes, Papa?" Holding a lovely pearl-handled gun, Elizabeth moved forward until she was close enough to be sure of her shot.

He held out his hand to her. "Why don't you hand that over before you get hurt."

She smiled and straightened her posture. "I don't think so."

His stern expression narrowed on her. "Give. It. Here."

She raised the gun, pointing it right between his eyes. "Jason?"

The enforcer looked up at her and saw the steely resolve in her eyes. "Elizabeth."

The corners of her mouth turned up slightly. "Took your damn time getting here, didn't you?"

He shrugged, easing his stance. "We had a flat tire."

Johnny grinned at his sister. "Jason changed to the spare."

"Oh," she laughed a little, "then you didn't miss all the fun." She kept her gaze on Anthony. "I've been learning to cook and speak Italian."

Johnny nodded. "Time well spent, sis."

"And you know what else I learned thanks to dear papa?"

Johnny cocked his head to one side. "No, what?"

BANG!

The room went horribly silent as Anthony fell back to the floor with a thud. Before anyone could really move she ejected the spent shell and turned, holding the gun on the assembled families. "My father's attorney gave me quite the lesson this morning." She took in a steadying breath when Johnny and Jason produced their guns as backup. "As Anthony's rightful heir I had every right to take the power from him if I intend to take control of the family." She looked at each of the men standing before her. "Anthony Zacchara made the last mistake of his life when he threatened my children and so I'm standing here before all of you to make one demand and one demand only. Leave my children alone. Am I understood?"

Orso was the first one to speak. "I think your father underestimated you." He looked at his father and saw the almost imperceptible nod. "I speak for my family. Children and family are off limits."

The other two families agreed.

Jason and Johnny approached the dais from both sides of the room. Johnny took a place beside Elizabeth. "I think the party's over, you're all welcome to go home and-"

"Wait!" It was Elizabeth who again commanded attention. "There's still a ton of food left and I have something I'd like to discuss with all of you."

Orso's father folded his arms over his chest and smiled. "I have to say this is one of the most entertaining parties that I've been invited to in a long time."

"I'd still like to discuss," Orso gave Elizabeth a wide smile, "merging our families."

Jason turned to watch her, the calm way she held their attention, the silvery chill of her voice as she addressed hardened criminals with a smile.

"I will marry," she answered, "when and if I choose to marry, it will be to the man I choose… in or out of the business."

"Elizabeth," Jason's voice turned her head, "I-"

The double doors swung open and Carly stood in the entry, her eyes blazing with anger and her clothes mused from the long trip. "I want an explanation!" She caught sight of Elizabeth standing between Johnny Zacchara and Jason and she knew, felt it bubbled up inside of her like the rush of a flooding river over a tiny little dam. "Elizabeth, I just bet this is all about you, isn't it."

Jason took a step forward but Elizabeth stopped him with a hand on his arm. With a soft smile she turned to Carly. "The best thing you can right now, Carly, is turn around and leave the way you came. If you don't-"

Carly took the opportunity to launch into a rant that would have burned ears less sensitive than organized crime and to her credit, Elizabeth let it go for a minute.

And then…

Elizabeth shocked Jason and Johnny by ordering the Zacchara guards to remove her from the room in Italian.

Carly turned to Jason the instant the men touched her. "Jase, come on, help me!" She felt air beneath her feet and she called out louder. "Jason! This isn't funny, help – me – out!"

Jason gave Elizabeth a smile before turning back to Carly to explain, "She's the boss."

The men marched Carly out the way she came swearing a blue streak as they closed the doors behind her.

Johnny gave Elizabeth a quizzical look and she smiled in return. "What can I say? I picked up a few more things while I was in Italy."

"Elizabeth."

She turned to Jason and smiled. "Jason, I-"

"Miss Zacchara," The other bosses surrounded her, all of them trying to express their happiness for her as she led them back into the dining room. Jason and Johnny withdrew slightly, allowing her space and time to talk to the other bosses.

"I have to admit," Johnny folded his arms and watched her work the crowd, "she's a natural."

Jason saw her turn in the doorway to look back at him with a bright smile with light dancing in her eyes.

"She's Elizabeth."


	13. Epilogue

Epilogue

Johnny O'Brien looked up in the rear-view mirror and gave his boss a smile. "You don't need that make-up, you know."

Elizabeth arched a brow at him. "Keep your eyes on the road, O'Brien."

"Ouch, Lizbits." He looked straight ahead but kept the smile on his lips broad and happy. "Talk about multi-tasking, hm? How was the meeting with the other bosses?"

Twisting the top back on her mascara she dropped it in her purse. "OH, the usual. It's so much more fun when we skype, but some of the older bosses like the face to face meetings."

Johnny flicked on the turn signal. "And the cannoli."

She smiled at him and gave the box beside her a pat. "I made extra."

"For the women," he gave her a dramatic sigh, "what about us… you know.. the working stiffs."

Leaning back in her seat to adjust the seatbelt around her growing belly, Elizabeth returned his sigh with another one. "First, you know what Jason would say about any of the guards being 'stiff' around me and second, you know there are cannoli waiting for you back at the house, so stop whining about it. You're as bad as Cameron and Jake."

"Just want you to feel at home."

"Good grief, just cut it out, O'Brien."

As they turned into the school parking lot Elizabeth waved to Officer Cruz who was keeping tabs on the street traffic. He gave her a return wave with a smile.

"You know," Johnny continued, "I don't know if the PCPD has actually put it into words, but you've really turned Port Charles around."

A flutter of movement near her hip made Elizabeth smile. "You know me, Johnny… it's all about the kids."

He pulled into a spot near the front of the school marked "PTA PRES" and put the car in park. Francis opened the door for her and smiled as he gave her a hand down.

"You're looking ever so lovely today."

She gave him a kiss on his cheek and whispered, "Flattery will get you everywhere, Francis."

He gave the younger woman a wink. "Is that how Jason got you… ah-"

"Do I have to give 'you' the birds and bees talk, Francis?"

The guard shook his head. "The women are gathering inside, you made good time from the meeting."

Johnny took his place at her other side, the pink box of pastries under his arm. "She's got the best driver."

The three walked inside the building as the other members of the PTA were preparing their table of snacks.

A few of the women stepped up to say hello and inquire after her health.. the pregnancy… invite her family over for a dinner party. Francis and Johnny stepped discreetly back and watched their Lizbits work a roomful of women just as well as she did a meeting room full of mob bosses. Her confidence was catching and she quickly got the meeting started and the group working on the agenda.

"You know," Francis leaned back against the wall, folding his arms over his chest, "If you asked me if something like this was possible a few years ago I would have thought you were certifiable and thrown you in Shadybrook, and I don't want to give too much credit to that crazy old Zacchara, but I would never have thought-"

"That one woman who couldn't come up to our shoulders without the benefits of Manolo stilettos could organize the five families into not only working together-"

"But making them all legal enterprises and turning the PCPD into little more than glorified meter maids and crossing guards?" Jason stepped up beside them and watched with pride as Elizabeth organized a school carnival. "No one wants to anger the families by bringing crime into PC and the surrounding areas are falling in with us as well."

Francis looked around near Jason. "Where are the boys?"

Jason caught Elizabeth's smile across the room and the dark promise in his eyes made her blush. When he turned back to Francis his smile was a little more playful. "The boys are with Uncle Johnny tonight." Jason sighed. "He told Elizabeth that he didn't see what was so hard about being a single parent to two children."

Johnny O'brien paled beside him. "Should I even ask what part of his anatomy is now missing?"

"Nothing that bad," the two guards sighed in relief, "she just told him to prove it." The guards turned, waiting for the punchline. "So we let the boys have as many of her cannoli as they wanted and dropped them off with 'Uncle Johnny.'"

Almost on cue, Jason's cell phone buzzed in his jacket pocket. He took it out and looked at the text message on the screen.

From: Johnny Z

SOS! SOS! SOS! SOS!

O'brien saw the message and looked up at Jason. "Well?"

Jason dropped the phone in his pocket and turned to watch Elizabeth wrap up the meeting. When she finally extricated herself from the group she walked over to Jason and was eagerly wrapped up in his arms. She felt the hot brush of his breath against her cheek before she felt this lips nip playfully at her earlobe.

Her hand on his chest set him back a little, enough for her to look up at him.

Jason found that the simple touch of her hand or the look in her eyes could drive him mad and likely would never change. From the instant he'd touched her in Italy, felt the warm brush of her skin on his… he knew that he'd been missing something vital in his life… and now he had the answer… and he'd be damned if he'd ever let her go.


End file.
